Playskool Alphie

by Playskool

Product Features

• There's a whole lot to discover when you're a preschooler and this Alphie figure shares one of the most important lessons, too
• Fun and engaging electronic robot figure
• Introduce your child to letters, math skills, special reasoning, cause and effect and much more
• Robot figure sings and plays music and features light up buttons
• Robot figure comes with 30 double-sided cards

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6 x 12 x 11 inches ; 2.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B003CRJU36
• Item model number: 39350
• Manufacturer recommended age: 3 years and up
• Batteries: 3 AA batteries required. (included)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,972 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
  • #4 in Toys & Games > Preschool > Pre-Kindergarten Toys > Learning > Reading & Writing
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (142 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Who better to explore the world with than someone who’s new to it? This ALPHIE robot figure is on a “field trip” from his home planet and, with a kooky grin and funny faces, it’s his “mission” to introduce your child to learning. There’s practically nothing this little dynamo doesn’t want to “talk about” — from letter sounds and shape sorting to patterns, cause and effect, vocabulary development and much more, your ALPHIE figure is a whole big classroom in one little portable robot buddy. As his buttons light up, and as he “sings” and plays music, your child’s brain is stretching, growing and helping turn him or her into a super-duper learner and problem-solver. Educational fun on-the-go is as easy as can be, too, with this little guy’s handled noggin and storage spot for his cards in his backpack.

Product Description

This fun and engaging electronic robot figure introduces your child to letters, math skills, spacial reasoning, cause and effect and much more. Alphie “sings” and plays music and features light up buttons!

• Comes with 30 double-sided cards
• Includes 3 “AA” batteries
• Recommended Ages: 3 years & up

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

116 of 118 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ALPHIE!!!!!!!!!!!!! (29.99 at toysrus), July 9, 2010

By 

A Regular Joe (A Regular City, MI) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Playskool Alphie (Toy)

If you grew up in the 1980's you probably remember Alphie - that fun loving robot that taught you all about colors, letters, numbers, math, and more. He is back - and better than ever with a new upgrade, this time sporting a much better animated face instead of the plastic face we all remember. My three year old son has been playing with Alphie for the last week and he loves him. He has an electronic voice that is a lot of fun and not at all as annoying as I imagined it might be. My son got mad at me a few times for "taking over".

He seems well built and sturdy, but I will update my review if that changes.

[...]

Some of the cards in the starter pack include:

-- Quick Start Guide
-- Matching
-- ABC Song
-- Music Composition (neat card! Keep adding instruments for new sound combinations!)
-- Counting Song
-- Color Exploration
-- Letters
-- Numbers
-- Shapes

There is also a "Hide and Seek" mode. Just push the button on top of Alphie's head and he asks you to find a card with a description. For instance, find a card that has pink on it.

New booster packs are available on amazon with at least 2 more slatted for release according to in the information in the box.

The cards are stored on his back when not in use. My only complaint and recommendation is for some type of clear plastic that the card could slide into on the front instead of just sitting loose in the small slot on the bottom. The plastic card tends to 'lean forward' and I am afraid could become badly damaged with regular use by small children.

Highly recommended!!!

76 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Small age range for which it's best suited, but otherwise Alphie is Five Stars, September 23, 2010

By 

Steve (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Playskool Alphie (Toy)

(What's this?)

My wife and I got this for our four-year old daughter. She's been using a computer since she was three and we needed something that was electronic that would hold her attention off the computer (preferably non-video game related). Alphie ended up fitting in perfectly. Despite the fact that she's a bit advanced for games and activities it has, it keeps her interested for quite some time. She's now showing our 6-month old how to use it, so it's likely to become a good starter for her, as well as an excellent bonding tool for the both of them.

Each card has two sides, each with a game/activity. They they range from simple shape matching to letters and math, which I'm quite interested is seeing how my youngest takes to it as we'll use this as an introduction to math and letters. We also find it quite amusing that Alphie seems to have a bit of a personality... it'll come up with all sort of comments between games and steps, such as 'hold on while I drink a glass of water' or 'could you scratch an itch' (complete with button blinking that you must push to sooth Alphie). Alphie will also provide hints at the right answer if the wrong one is selected.

We've had only two minor complaints about Alphie... first, one of the cards isn't recognized. No matter what we do or how it's inserted, there's one card that can't be read by Alphie. The second complaint is durability... the cards are thin laminated cardboard, very similar to a good set of playing cards, so they will bend and wear easily. After a month of use, they've seemed to have stayed in better shape then I expected, but they are beginning to show a bit of wearing. I think once my younger one gets hold of it, the cards won't last much longer. Kids can be a bit rough with toys and laminated cardboard isn't quite forgiving. The cards also limit how young a child can be before they use this toy unsupervised. If my daughter had this when she was two and I walked out of the room for three seconds, I would come back to a pile of bent up and mangled cards. So, overall two is a bit too young for the cards and four is a bit too old for the lessons... that leaves a small age window where Alphie would be best suited. Alphie himself is quite sturdy and rugged. Luckily, you can at least replace the cards.

Overall, this is a highly recommended toy for parents looking to get their kid an electronic device without getting them hooked on video games just yet. As I said, my 4-year old is a bit advanced for the lesson part of the games, but it holds her attention just the same, and for a younger child that's learning, this would be even more valuable.

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great First Computer/Electronic Toy, September 13, 2010

By 

D. Sun (Vallejo, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Playskool Alphie (Toy)

(What's this?)

When I was a kid something like this would be exotic and high tech. Today, this toy is a great first introduction to electronics for a sub 3 year old kid who will soon move onto tablet computers, kid laptops, and other high tech toys and tools with full touch screen support. I like the Alphie for the nostalgia value as well as for the drool, hard abuse, and torture proof design. This thing is built to take a small child using it as a hammer and as a drool pad, while offering limited educational enhancement. There is never going to be a replacement for mom and dad spending time with their child performing the duties of a parent, but this toy is a nice enhancement.

My Nephew is now 5 and is well beyond this toy. This toys value is really at the 2-3 year old range with the button presses, basic color/letters/numbers, etc., type teaching and anything beyond 4 years old will be quickly bored.

Still, this toy is exactly what is advertised for the age range and is a very cute and well designed device.